Thursday, October 22, 2009

Keeping Busy

I've been taking pictures but haven't had time to download them from the camera. The schedule this past week has been the same each day. At the office until 4:00, then hurry to the house and work until dark (which comes way too early every night). It's only about 3 hours a day at the house, but there's been progress. We're going through primer and have several empty tubes of window and door caulk. There are a couple swatches of paint color on the kitchen wing but I'm not happy with the lighter color yet, so by tonight there should be at least one more swatch up to compare to the others.

The masons have half of the front of the house ground out. New mortar is in on the back of the 2-story part of the house and it's looking nice. They are also supposed to have estimates for us today on the various options for repairing the front door's lintel.

The kids have been enjoying the weather too. Our son has been spending every afternoon exploring the creek and the woods. Our daughter putters about variously riding her bike on the driveway, lugging around a cooperative tiger-striped kitten, or joining her brother for adventures along the creek.

We've also been enjoying our bats. At about 6:30 each evening we can hear them start to chirp and chatter. And shortly after 7:00 they start to come out. They swoop out fast and low from the fascia board along the attic. They are big enough that we can easily watch them fly away. The kids got a huge kick out of the bats the first time they saw them, with lots of squealing and running and pointing. While we need to get the bats out of the attic, I really really hope we can convince them to remain somewhere on the property.

And one last note today - I've changed the blog back to a public setting. The Order of Confirmation of Sale was subject to a 30 day appeal period, which expired late last week. I've been checking the on-line docket on the county clerk's website religiously and so far nothing has been posted. It appears our worries about the sale being contested are over. It is still frustrating that we had to buy anyone's cooperation, but having the house tied up in appellate courts for another year would have been a nightmare.

"When we build let us think we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let is be such work that our descendants will thank us for, and let us think, as we lay stone upon stone, that a time is to come when these stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, 'See! This our fathers did for us.'" ~John Ruskin (1819-1900)